Construction of ships with floating cabins.



B. HARRISON.

CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS WITH FLOATING CABINS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN 28, 1913.

1,069,69Q.. Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

E.HARR1SON.

CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS WITH FLOATING CABINS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 28, 1913. 1,069,692. Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

2 SHEBTS-SHEET 2,

em srarn CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS WITH FLOATING CABINS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 12,1913.

Application filed. January 28, 1913. Serial No. 744,604.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST HAnRIsoN, subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Thorsgarth, Park avenue, Great Grimsby, in the county of Lincoln, England, have invented a new and useful Improved Construction of Ships with Floating Cabins, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved method of ship-construction whereby a substantial portion thereof is so made and carried thereon as to be detachable therefrom, the said portion being provided with means for independent flotation and navigation. The said detachable, independently-navigable portion may have any one of a variety of configurations and be adapted to perform either of a variety of functions according to the service in which the ship, whereon it is carried, is employed.

If the ship is a man-o-f-war for example, the detachable portion may be a torpedoboat, a submarine or air-craft, but the particular purpose I had in view, in the conception of this my invention, was the provision of what may be descriptively called a liferoom which, while being adapted to serve a useful function such as that of a mess room or the like during the ordinary service of the ship, is available on emergency to contain and convey to safety the entire ships company and passengers and protect them from exposure to severe weather-conditions. The principal constructive feature of the in vention resides in the means for housing the said life-room under normal circumstances and for launching it into the sea under emergency conditions. For this purpose, at a suitable portion in the length of the ship between the bow and stern, a transverse gap is formed in the superstructure of the ship, the floor of which gap shelves downward on each side of the center thereof, doors being provided at the ends of the gap to normally inclose the housing space and arranged to be readily opened for the launching of the life-room on emergency. The doors may be secured to the sides of the ship by horizontal hinges so that on being opened outward and downward they provide launching ways and give partial support to the life-room during its emergence from the ship until it is sufficiently immersed in the water to be buoyed up thereby. Alternatively, double-doors mounted on vertical hinges may be provided or there may be both such sets of doors serving as gangway sides as well as a launching platform. Sets of rollers may be provided to ease the life-room into the sea in the event of the ship being tilted longitudinally or heeled sidewise. The transverse gap may be formed in or beneath the upper deck of the ship and, in the former case, the longitudinal strength of the ship may be reinforced by girders at the sides of the ship, crossing the gap at a sufficient height above the floor of the transverse-gap as to permit the liferoom to glide underneath. In large ships the above described life-room and housing space may be duplicated.

In carrying out this invention considerable variations in the details of the construction and the operating fittings are possible.

On the accompanying drawings are shown as representative examples some forms of construction embodying the principle of this invention.

In these drawings: Figure 1 is a transverse sectional elevation of a ship taken through the said transversegap, the liferoom being, in full-lines, shown housed therein and in dotted-lines shown gliding into the sea on one side of the ship. Fig. 2 is a plan-view of the transverse-gap with the life-room contained therein and the doors at one end of the gap shown open preparatory tothe launching of the life-room into the sea. Fig. 3 is a side-elevation of the life-room floating in the sea. Fig. 4 is a sectionalelevation, taken through the. transverse-gap of the ship, showing a modified construct-ion. The life-room in this case is built in two separable lengths, one-half of which is required to glide into the sea on the starboard side of the ship and the other half on the port side. Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional elevation, taken through the transverse-gap, showing a modified method of support of the life-room and means for tilting the life-room in either direction as desired. Fig. 6 is a part side-elevation showing a detail. Fig. 7 is a transverse section and :Fig. 8 is a plan, showing a further modification of the construction.

Referring first to Figs. 1-3, A is a ship in which, between two transverse bulkheads a a, a transverse-gap is formed in the superstructure of the ship, leading from one side of the ship to the other and having a deck or floor a? which slopes downward toward the sides of the ship on each side of the center. On the floor is supported, in a poised manner, a life-room B the shell of which is so constructed as to provide the requisite strength, buoyancy and stability to enable it to safely carry a large number of people and stores, and contain means for loco-motion and navigation when afloat. According to these figures, the life-room B rests on the crown 14 of the floor a of the transverse-gap through the medium of interposed rollers 5 carried at mid-length of the life-room B and it is, in addition, supported at its two ends by vertical struts c 0 which are arranged to be knocked away when it is desired to launch the liferoom. In addition, horizontal struts (Z (Z also arranged to be knocked away are provided to normally secure the life-room from displacement when in the housed posi tion. These struts (Z cl abut against doors a a which are horizontally-hinged to the ship in such a manner that they can be opened outward and downward and, in the position shown at a serve to assist in the support of the life-room during the launch ing operation. Other half-doors a a which are vertically-hinged to the side of the ship serve normally to inclose the space within which the life-room is normally housed and, after the opening of the half-doors a a they perform the function of sides to the downward sloping gangway along which the liferoom is conducted. Moreover rollers b are provided beneath, and rollers at the sides of the life-room to facilitate the launching of the life-room into the sea at the time of emergency. The extremities of the doors a are supported by tension elements, such as chains or wireropes 6, led over pulleys 6 to windlasses 6 To enable the life-room B when detached from the ship to afford protection to its occupants in foul weather and rough seas, an internal cabin F may be provided, from the upper-deck of which the life-room can be navigated. Screw-propellers driven by internal-combustion engines are advanta geously provided for locomotion and the necessary stores of food and water, and to satisfy the most desired amenities of life should be permanently in place so as to be in readiness for use on an emergency. When it is desired that the transverse-gap shall be situated beneath the upper-deck of the ship, with the intent to avoid diminution of the longitudinal-strength of the ship by discontinuity of the upper-deck and its longitudinal stringer-plates, the cover or roof of the internal cabin F may be so constructed as to be raised and lowered in a telescopic manner relatively to a fixed lower wall of the cabin.

According to Fig. 4, the life-room is composed in two like portions G- G to the bottoms of each of which are secured brackets g g which serve as slides, so formed as to maintain the halves of the life-room in a horizontal position during the launching operation. Normally the portions G G are united by bolts 9 g and thereby the two components of the life-room are secured against displacement, when in the housed position. By lowering the doors a a into the dotted positions a a after the discon nection of the bolts g 9 the two halves of the life-room will be allowed to glide into the Water on each side of the ship in a controlled manner. The previously mentioned side-rollers b are provided to ease the launching operation in the event of the ship being down at the bow or stern.

Referring to Figs. 5 and 6, the life-room B is supported on a girder H pivoted at h", which girder is normally sustained in the horizontal position by hydraulic rams K, the life-room being prevented from displacement by rollers m which are cleared from the end of the life-room which will be in ad vance during the launching operation. The rollers m are cleared from the end of the life-room by the withdrawal of their spindles m by means of hand-wheel nuts m Fig. 6. The girder is tilted in the desired direction by means of the hydraulic rams.

Figs. 7 and 8 show how launching-ways N can be mounted in a manner to be housed ina board under normal circumstances and caused to protrude on either side of the ship to give support to the life-room during the launching operation. For this purpose each launching-way N is formed with a toothed rack 91 and to operate the racks, pinions 0 0 are secured to the shaft 0 which, on being rotated will project or draw inwardly the launching ways in accordance with the direction of rotation.

a a are the half doors as described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2.

I claim:

1. A combination, comprising a life-room, an inclosure within which it is normally housed, which inclosure extends transversely across the superstructure of a ship between two transverse bulkheads, a floor of such inclosure which slopes downward on each side of the center and supports the life-room on the central portion thereof, means for supporting said life-room at the ends thereof above said sloping floor, and doors at the extremities of the inclosure adapted to normally complete the inclosure.

2. A combination, comprising a life-room, an inclosure within which it is normally housed, which inclosure extends transversely across the superstructure of a ship between In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of 10 two subscribing Witnesses.

ERNEST HARRISON.

Witnesses:

M. DIXON, HERBERT N. PEASEGOOD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

